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What if the Lightning Process works for a while and then seems to stop working?

 

Sometimes the LP seems to stop working, or it seems we can't create the changes we want for a specific issue.  This can be a tricky experience, but there are steps that you can take to get things up and running again.  As a practitioner I help clients to work through these issues

 

The Lightning Process is based on helping the brain and nervous system interrupt unhelpful patterns and build new, healthier ones. It draws on principles of neuroplasticity—the brain's lifelong ability to change through experience (Siegel, 2012).

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Many people notice significant improvements quite quickly. Others experience more gradual progress, and for some people progress is not a straight line.

 

From a neuroscience perspective, this makes sense.  Our brains are constantly making predictions about what is happening in our bodies. Modern neuroscience increasingly understands the brain as a prediction machine, continuously generating expectations and updating them based on experience (Friston, 2010).

 

If your nervous system has spent months or years predicting pain, fatigue or other symptoms, those predictions can become well practiced. Every time you successfully use the Lightning Process and experience something different, your brain receives new information that updates those predictions.  Scientists refer to this as a prediction error—when the brain expects one outcome and experiences another. Prediction errors are considered one of the key mechanisms underlying learning and neuroplastic change (Friston, 2010).

 

An old unhelpful pattern has been reinforced thousands of times.  For this reason, consistency of gently applying the process is key. Repeated experiences of safety, confidence and capability gradually become the brain's new expectation, a principle reflected in both neuroplasticity research and behavioural learning theory (Siegel, 2012; Moseley & Vlaeyen, 2015).

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What if I have a setback?

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Though they feel difficult setbacks are common whenever people are learning something new.  A setback does not mean the Lightning Process has "stopped working" or that you are "back where you started." The brain and nervous system are continually adapting to changing circumstances. Stress, illness, poor sleep and emotional demands can temporarily increase nervous system activation and can also influence symptom perception (McEwen, 1998).

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Rather than viewing setbacks as failure, it can be helpful to ask:

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• What changed recently?

• Was I under more pressure?

• Was I more tired?

• Did fear or symptom monitoring begin creeping back in?

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Research on chronic pain and symptom persistence shows that attention, expectations and threat monitoring can significantly influence symptom intensity ( Moseley & Vlaeyen, 2015).

The aim is not to fight symptoms harder but to gently return to the principles of the programme with curiosity rather than alarm. Where practical life issues are impacting a key here is to start to use practical how tos to create a life you love.  As a practitioner I can assist you to do this.  

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What if I get worried if am doing it right?

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Occasionally people become anxious about whether they are "doing it right.".  Worrying about whether the process is working can itself become another source of nervous system threat.

Research suggests that fear, hypervigilance and threat monitoring can amplify symptoms by increasing the brain's focus on potential danger signals (Moseley & Butler, 2013)

 

Start to notice your catchphrases.   If every symptom becomes a test with catchphrases that start with things like  What if I .... Have I .... Am I doing it well enough we can end up focused on what isn't working.  Gently move away from the reasonable patterns towards those that are useful in support recovery like focus evidence of safety, capability and engagement in life (Gordon et al., 2021).

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What if the Lightning Process worked for energy but doesn't seem to create the changes I want now?

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The nervous system learns through repetition. Many people notice that early gains come quickly because they are interrupting obvious patterns.  Later improvements can feel slower because they involve changing habits that may have developed over many years.  The patterns can be harder to spot.  A practitioner can be useful to help us to spot the pits.

 

Also changes maybe subtler - eg rather than being up and about for a full day, we are simply feeling more relaxed in a group of people.    Neuroplastic changes are strengthened, whether changes are huge or more subtle, through repeated activation of new neural pathways and reduced activation of older ones (Siegel, 2012).

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Also progress can  plateau temporarily before further improvements occur. Learning rarely occurs in a perfectly linear fashion. Behavioural science consistently shows that consolidation periods are often part of long-term change.  This does not  mean you have reached the limit of improvement.  It may simply mean your nervous system now requires a different emphasis - for example building confidence gradually, reducing overall stress levels, reducing ways that we accidentally pressurise ourselves,  improving sleep, or seeking refresher coaching..

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What if symptoms aren't changing as I need them to?

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Early in many mind-body approaches, increased awareness of symptoms can sometimes occur simply because attention has shifted towards them. Attention itself can influence how strongly symptoms are perceived. Brain imaging studies have repeatedly shown that focusing on bodily sensations can amplify the brain's processing of those sensations, this is time to put in the process.  

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It is worth considering to:

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• Has something else changed medically?

• Is my overall stress load much higher?

• Am I becoming more symptom vigilant?

• Am I putting too much pressure on myself?​

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The Lightning Process is not intended to ignore symptoms or replace appropriate medical care. New or changing symptoms should be discussed with an appropriate healthcare professional.

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What if I've tried really hard and nothing seems to change?

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This is probably the hardest question.  Remember here, not everyone arrives at the Lightning Process with the same nervous system history.

Some people have experienced:

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• years of chronic illness

• repeated stressful life events

• childhood adversity

• significant trauma

• ongoing life pressures​

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Researchers use the term allostatic load to describe the cumulative effect of prolonged stress on the body and nervous system (McEwen, 1998).  When the nervous system remains activated over long periods, its baseline can shift. Instead of returning fully to a state of rest and recovery, it may become organised around a higher level of activation (McEwen, 1998).

Research into Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) has shown that early life stress can have long-term effects on nervous system regulation and stress responses (Felitti et al., 1998).

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And research also shows we can positively move forwards.  

 

For some people, learning new neural pathways may therefore require additional support alongside neuroplasticity-based approaches..  I have a toolkit built over more than 18 years of practice which includes techniques for clearing patterns rooted in our history:

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• Eye movement and other NLP techniques and hypnotherapy 

• ​More somatic approaches like Breathing and EFT

• Pain Reprocessing Therapy

• Coaching for lifestyle changes that reduce overall stress load

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This is not a sign of failure. Rather, it recognises that different nervous systems may require different routes to create more choice for regulation and change.

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What is the Evidence Base for the Lightning Process?

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There are  18 published studies showing benefit of the Lightning Process

For more visit:  What the Research Shows - A Patient Guide

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The principles underpinning the Lightning Process overlap with several well-established areas of neuroscience and behavioural science.  

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Research supports the following ideas:

• The brain continually updates predictions based on experience (Friston, 2010).

• The nervous system remains capable of change throughout life (Siegel, 2012).

• Expectations, attention and emotions influence symptom experience (Tracey & Mantyh 2007,The cerebral signature for pain perception and its modulation, Neuron, Volume 55, Issue 3

• Chronic pain and many persistent symptoms involve changes in nervous system processing rather than simply tissue damage (Moseley & Butler, 2013).

• Approaches that help individuals reinterpret symptoms as less threatening can reduce pain and disability in some populations (Gordon et al., 2021).

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References

Felitti, V. J., Anda, R. F., Nordenberg, D., et al. (1998). Relationship of childhood abuse and household dysfunction to many of the leading causes of death in adults. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 14(4), 245–258.

Friston, K. (2010). The free-energy principle: A unified brain theory? Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 11, 127–138.

Gordon, A., Ziv, M., Louw, A., et al. (2021). Effect of Pain Reprocessing Therapy vs placebo and usual care for patients with chronic back pain. JAMA Psychiatry, 78(1), 13–23.

McEwen, B. S. (1998). Protective and damaging effects of stress mediators. New England Journal of Medicine, 338, 171–179.

Moseley, G. L., & Butler, D. S. (2013). Explain Pain (2nd ed.).

Moseley, G. L., & Vlaeyen, J. W. S. (2015). Beyond nociception: The imprecision hypothesis of chronic pain. Pain, 156(1), 35–38.

Siegel, D. J. (2012). The Developing Mind (2nd ed.).

Tracey & Mantyh 2007,The cerebral signature for pain perception and its modulation, Neuron, Volume 55, Issue 3

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